Angelina Jolie has the ability to glamorize many things—all one British media watchdog group is asking is for her to use her powers for good instead of evil.
The U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority has banned two movie posters for the Jolie-starring action flick Wanted, upholding public complaints that the sultry, weapon-baring promotional images glamorize the use of guns and violence and are unsuitable for children.
Just 17 complaints were lodged against the ads, one of which features Jolie draped over the hood of a car brandishing guns. In another ad, costar James McAvoy is pointing two pistols directly toward the camera, above what the ASA deemed to be "aspirational text."
"We acknowledged most viewers would understand the posters reflected the content of an action film," the ASA said in a statement. "However, we considered that because the ads featured a glamorous actress, action poses, several images of, or related to guns and aspirational text, they could be seen to glamorize the use of guns and violence."
The ASA's reaction was no doubt due in part to the increasingly sensitive social climate in Britain given the recent and rapid rise of gun use and violence among youth.
Still, while Universal Pictures UK defended their images, claiming the poses, like the movie itself, were highly stylized and in keeping with the comic-book-based nature of the flick, the ASA ruled that the posters were no longer to appear in public.
Not that that should be too much of a problem.
Wanted opened in the U.K. back in June and Universal Pictures said the images had already been taken out of circulation, with no plans to use them again in the future.
Image:© 2008, , Jaap Buitendijk / Universal Picture
